inFAMOUS: Second Son Clears the Smoke with Neon Powers

Many assumed that the tease at the end of last week’s brand new inFAMOUS: Second Son trailer was pointing to familiar electrical powers, but developer Sucker Punch has clarified that Delsin Rowe will be dabbling with neon. Those of you that have been following the game will know that the new protagonist’s power is actually the ability to, er, absorb other powers, unlocking access to a catalogue of different skills. And according to creative director Nate Fox, these movesets will totally change the game.

“When you’re playing as a neon powered hero, it’s not like playing like a smoke guy,” he said in a video interview with IGN. “The smoke powers are all about speed and getting in and out quickly, whaling on guys, and zipping up the sides of buildings. But as a neon player, the tempo is different. And what’s cool about this is that the game has these wholesale mode shifts where it’s almost like there’s another game inside the game. Every time that you switch your powers, you have a different way to relate to the architecture around you and enemies – and you have to master that.”

You’ll be able to toggle between powers as you play, unlocking an impressive array of combat options. And according to Fox, this versatility will set it apart from previous entries in the series. “It’s not one origin story where you’re getting used to your smoke powers, but it’s a number of them, as we share what these new powers are and how you play them,” he continued. “It’s really different to the previous inFAMOUS games.”

We’re not entirely sure how neon’s going to work, but we reckon that it’s a perfect fit to push the horsepower of the PlayStation 4. While the smoke certainly looks great, there’s the potential for some ridiculous lighting and particle effects with neon, as evidenced by some of the footage in last week’s behind-the-scenes DualShock 4 video. How do you think that the new powers are going to work? What other abilities would you like to see in the game? Blast your thoughts in the comments section below.

I can't wait to terrorize the DUP with my new neon powers, traversal sounds like it'll be a blast as well. A power I'd love to see what SP could do with something like metal or even poison - gravity would be a sexy power too.

It looks to me like they are going with a bunch of powers that aren't as big as say, electricity, but are being creative instead so you can have a really wide variety of options on your hands. It sounds like the end result will be magnificent.

Second Son reminds me a lot of X-men, more so than the first two games. Thats a very good thing if you ask me, one of may favorite things about the series is how it handles powers.

Sucker Punch seems to be going in the same direction with Infamous so I can't wait to see what else they have in store. The more off-beat the better I say. Maybe plant-based powers, the game takes place in the evergreen state after all, or something like sound.

I can't help but think that every power Delsin acquires will be there just to show off the PS4's graphical power. I mean neon? As a power? I'll have to see it but I'm having trouble thinking of any truly logical application.

@ShogunRok That wouldn't be such a bad thing; after all, Super Smash Bros. melee was made primarily to show off the Gamecube's power over N64 and was a major success. I do get what you're saying though, as neon hardly seems much of a power (being a non-lethal, non-toxic, non-reactive noble gas). However, I think that they fumbled over their words or at least were using a generalization, and that the power is actually plasma. Plasma would be a great power (and the lighting in Neon lights is just one form of plasma).

I love inFamous it is why I got a ps3 played them all alot. I hope they add in some randomness with when and what enemies attack you and how the map is set up because after 3 play thoughs of inFamous (1) i knew almost exactly where all the rpg guys would shoot from on the train lvs. Also I think that the neon powers could be used to blind enemies with light or move though glass be turning into light(for sleathy reasons not breaking glass or making sound maybe just some light for a moment.I would very much like some kind of power that lets you float maybe upto 10 ft off the ground and another in combo would let you fly fast. And this is way out there but maybe Ur nuke power blow urself and all around then maybe you reform from the ashes

I think a diversity of powers in this second generation of infamous would add to the game play....I would suggest some control over different elements for instance...water, earth, air/wind, metal - transmutation might go over well as well...